The Number of APS On-Time Graduates Continues to Rise

On-Time Rate for Three Comprehensive High Schools is 97

Sept. 28, 2016 — In 2016, the number of APS students who graduated continued to rise (1,351) with 68% earning an Advanced Studies or IB diploma and 93% of those responding to a survey reporting that they plan to attend college.

While this year’s On-Time Graduation Rate (OGR) remained high at 91.1%, it was 1.7 percentage points lower than 2015. The OGR reflects the percentage of students who earned a Board of Education-approved diploma within four years of entering high school for the first time. Prior to this year, OGR increased by more than six percentage points from 85% in 2009.

For those APS students who started as freshman in the fall of 2012 at Wakefield, Washington-Lee, or Yorktown and remained in APS throughout high school, the graduation rate was 97%.

Eighty-one students dropped out, an increase of 1.3%. The good news is that over the past five years, the dropout rate has declined for Black students by 5 percentage points and for economically disadvantaged students by more than 9 percentage points.

Arlington Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy said, “We are very proud of all the efforts that have been made throughout our school division to maintain a consistently high graduation rate. This reflects not only the commitment of our students to achieve their goal, but the dedicated focus by our principals, teachers, counselors, and the many support staff and volunteers who work directly with students to help them reach this milestone. As we move forward, APS will continue to work on strengthening support systems so that every student graduates, fully prepared for the next step of their journey toward college or a career.”

VDOE Release and Definitions

• The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released 2016 On-Time Graduation and Dropout Rates this afternoon.
• Both rates are based on the cohort of students who first entered Grade 9 during the 2012-13 school year:
  • On-time graduates are those who earned a Virginia Board of Education-approved diploma [1].
  • Dropouts reflect the students who dropped out or whose status is undetermined.

Additional Resources Online
High school cohort reports for schools, school divisions and the commonwealth are available for viewing and downloading on the VDOE website.

• Table 1: APS Cohort On-time Graduation and Dropout Rates
• Table 2: APS Diploma Rates Among APS Graduates
• Table 3: 2014 On-time Graduation and Dropout Rates by School

[1] Advanced Studies Diplomas include International Baccalaureate Diplomas earned by students in the IB program at Washington-Lee High School. Modified Standard Diplomas and Special Diplomas are available only to students with disabilities and, beginning with the Grade 9 class in 2013-14, will no longer be offered.